Wednesday, 24 December 2025

People Are Standing Up — A Dutch Court Is Letting C-19 Vaccine Injury Claims Be Heard.

 Researched and written by ChatGPT


There’s a story swirling online that a Dutch court has ordered Bill Gates and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to testify in person in a COVID-19 vaccine injury case. That’s not exactly right. But what is true — and newsworthy in its own right — is this:

Ordinary people are pushing a legal process that powerful elites can’t just brush aside, and the court has given them a real opening to be heard.

The lawsuit isn’t a criminal indictment — it’s a civil case

In the Netherlands, a group of seven Dutch citizens filed a civil lawsuit claiming they suffered injuries after COVID-19 vaccines and that influential figures — including Bill Gates, Albert Bourla (CEO of Pfizer), former Dutch PM Mark Rutte, the Dutch government, and others — misled them about vaccine safety. (Facebook)

This is key: civil lawsuits aren’t criminal charges. There is no prosecutor charging Gates or Bourla with a crime. Instead, everyday people are asking a court for accountability under civil law. (Reuters)

The Dutch court has ruled it can hear the case

In October 2024, a judge in the District Court of Leeuwarden ruled that it does have jurisdiction to hear this lawsuit — including as to Gates — despite arguments that a U.S. citizen shouldn’t be subject to a Dutch court. That’s what keeps the case moving forward. (Reuters)

That jurisdiction ruling isn’t glamorous, but it’s foundational — it means the plaintiffs’ day in court won’t be shut down at the first hurdle. For people who’ve felt ignored by government or corporate powerhouses, that is something. (Instagram)

Why people see this as a breakthrough

Even without an order to appear in person, this development matters:

  • It affirms that people can take legal action against powerful figures and institutions. Courts aren’t entirely closed doors — at least not here.

  • It forces these big names to respond, through counsel if not personally. They can’t simply silence everyone with influence and money.

  • It sets a precedent for public accountability efforts. People around the world are watching because it signals that citizens aren’t powerless. (Sri Lanka Guardian)

There’s a broader shift happening: more people are saying “no more automatic immunity for the rich and powerful.” Whether you agree with the plaintiffs’ claims or not, their voices are now part of a legal record.

A court allowing the case to proceed is change

In most jurisdictions, courts dismiss civil claims early when they believe they have no merit or no jurisdiction. That didn’t happen here.

Instead, a Dutch judge said the case is legally worth considering — and that’s newsworthy. That doesn’t automatically prove anything the plaintiffs allege… but it does give them a platform.

That’s huge for people in your circles who think the legal system is stacked against individuals. This case is evidence that ordinary citizens can still make the system listen.

What it isn’t — and why that matters

Be clear:
✔ This is not a criminal indictment of Gates or Bourla. (Reuters)
✔ There is no verified order for them to testify in person. (Reuters)
✔ It’s a civil lawsuit that may allow discovery, motions, and hearings — which can be powerful tools, but they’re not the same as criminal prosecution.

Still — even that civil process is a shift.

What’s next in the case

The plaintiffs are moving the case forward with hearings on the substantive claims (not just jurisdiction), and the legal proceedings continue in 2025 with more courtroom action. (De Andere Krant)

Why this matters to people in your world

Most people don’t realize how hard it is to get a court to even hear a case against powerful individuals. The fact that this civil lawsuit was not thrown out — and that the judge said it can proceed — shows:

  • People aren’t automatically shut out of the system.

  • Courts are still capable of letting citizen claims be heard.

  • Legal processes still function, even when those involved are globally influential.

That matters — whether you’re skeptical of the official response to COVID, distrust pharmaceutical behemoths, or simply believe individuals deserve their day in court.


                                                                                      



Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Cannabis, Ovarian Cancer, and Dr. Dedi Meiri’s Data: What’s Real and What’s Hype?

 Researched and Written by ChatGPT 


I saw some info about the recent study on Ovarian Cancer and Cannabinoids and it reminded me of Dr. Dedi Meiri's research on Cannabinoid combinations causing cancer cell death.  It appears Dr. Meiri is continuing to study this awesome plant. 


There’s a claim making the rounds that “non-psychoactive cannabis compounds have been proven to stop aggressive ovarian cancer cells from forming colonies” and that this is a “breakthrough” for people who’ve run out of chemo options.

That sounds amazing.

It’s also not what the science actually says.

The truth is more interesting, more nuanced, and – if anything – points right back to what researchers like Dr. Dedi Meiri at Technion have been showing for years: cannabinoids can hit cancer cells hard, but only in very specific combinations, and we’re still at the preclinical stage.

Let’s unpack it properly.


What the new ovarian cancer study actually found

On December 15, 2025, a paper in Frontiers in Pharmacology reported that CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), used together, showed strong anti-cancer activity against ovarian cancer cells in the lab. (Frontiers)

Key points:

  • Researchers worked with ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3 and A2780, plus non-cancerous ovarian surface epithelial cells (IOSE) as controls. (ResearchGate)

  • They tested CBD alone, THC alone, and a CBD:THC combination.

  • The combination:

    • Slowed cancer cell growth.

    • Reduced colony formation (the ability of a few cells to seed new clusters).

    • Reduced migration, which is a basic lab proxy for metastatic potential. (Inside Precision Medicine)

  • Crucially, the treatment did minimal damage to healthy IOSE cells at the same concentrations. (ScienceDaily)

Mechanistically, they focused on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is notoriously overactivated in ovarian cancer and tied to cell proliferation, survival, and chemoresistance. The CBD+THC combo appeared to:

  • Reduce phosphorylation (activation) of key proteins in that pathway.

  • Restore activity of PTEN, a tumor-suppressor that normally reins that pathway in. (Frontiers)

Put simply: in a petri dish, the cannabinoid combo pushed ovarian cancer cells away from “divide and spread” and toward “stop and die,” while sparing normal cells much of the collateral damage.

That’s big – for a cell-culture study.


What this study does NOT show

Here’s where social media and headlines start to overreach.

This study:

  • Did not prove that “non-psychoactive cannabinoids alone” can stop aggressive ovarian cancer. THC – a psychoactive compound – was part of the most effective combo. (Frontiers)

  • Did not test this in animals or humans. There were no patients, no survival curves, no clinical outcomes – only cells in a dish.

  • Did not demonstrate that this is a working option for people who have “exhausted chemo.” That’s speculation layered on top of preclinical data.

  • Did not freeze cancer “for good”. It showed a powerful hit to growth and migration under controlled lab conditions. That’s promising, not final.

It’s still early-stage, but it’s not nothing. It’s a serious, peer-reviewed piece of evidence that cannabinoids can target a central growth pathway in ovarian cancer with surprising precision.

And it fits into a much larger pattern of research that’s been emerging for years.


Enter Dr. Dedi Meiri and the Technion data machine

Years ago I wrote about Dr. David “Dedi” Meiri from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He heads the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research and has basically dedicated his career to one question:

Can specific cannabinoid combinations push specific cancer cells into apoptosis (programmed cell death) – and can we map that reliably? (Cancer Biology Lab)

His lab has done three especially important things:

  1. Built detailed cannabinoid fingerprints of different cannabis chemovars.
    In 2018 they published a method to comprehensively profile phytocannabinoids via LC-MS, giving them a high-resolution map of what’s actually in each extract – far beyond “THC and CBD.” (Cancer Biology Lab)

  2. Shown that whole-plant extracts can selectively kill cancer cells and induce apoptosis.
    A 2019 paper by Baram et al. (with Meiri as co-author) showed that some specific cannabis extracts:

    • Impaired survival and proliferation of various cancer cell lines.

    • Induced apoptosis – not just random toxicity.

    • Had highly variable effects depending on the exact cannabinoid/terpene profile. (PMC)

    Translation: “Cannabis” is not one drug. Some profiles barely touch the cancer; others hit it like a hammer.

  3. Identified a cannabinoid combo that targets NOTCH1-mutated T-cell leukemia.
    More recently, Meiri’s group reported that a specific cannabis chemovar – and then a purified trio of phytocannabinoids from it – selectively induced apoptosis in NOTCH1-mutated T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells. (eLife)

    They showed that these cannabinoids:

    • Interfered with Notch1 maturation, a key driver of that leukemia.

    • Triggered cell death in the mutated leukemia cells.

    • Were far less harmful to non-mutated cells.

This is the same general pattern we see in the new ovarian cancer paper: find the signaling pathway the tumor relies on, then hit it with a very specific cannabinoid combo that cancer cells can’t easily dodge.


The pattern: not “cannabis cures cancer,” but targeted combinations

When you line up Meiri’s work with the new ovarian cancer study, three themes repeat:

  1. Specificity matters.

    • Meiri’s lab: only certain extracts / cannabinoid combinations induce apoptosis in certain cancer types. (PMC)

    • Ovarian cancer paper: CBD or THC alone had modest effects, but the combo was far more potent and selective. (Frontiers)

  2. Pathways, not magic.

    • In leukemia, the combo hits Notch1 signaling. (eLife)

    • In ovarian cancer, the combo hits PI3K/AKT/mTOR and restores PTEN regulation. (Frontiers)

    We’re not talking about a miracle plant that “just knows what to do.” We’re talking about specific molecules modulating very specific biochemical circuits.

  3. Preclinical – not yet standard of care.
    Most of this is still:

    • in vitro (cell lines)

    • sometimes in vivo (animal models)

    • and only rarely in early human trials

    This is exactly the kind of data you want before human trials – but it’s not a substitute for them.


Why this still matters for ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest gynecologic cancers: late diagnosis, high recurrence, brutal side-effects from standard treatment, and limited second-line options. (Inside Precision Medicine)

So when a study shows that:

  • A CBD+THC combo can:

    • reduce cell growth,

    • reduce colony formation,

    • reduce migration,

    • and do it while sparing healthy cells, (ScienceDaily)

  • and it targets one of the major survival pathways (PI3K/AKT/mTOR),

then yes – that is a legit signal we should be following up on. It lines up with Meiri’s broader finding that certain cannabinoids, in the right ratios, can act as genuine anti-cancer agents in the lab.

The honest way to frame it is:

Cannabis-derived compounds are showing reproducible, pathway-level anti-cancer effects in preclinical models, including ovarian cancer. The next step is serious animal and human trials – not Facebook miracles.


Where the online “breakthrough” narrative goes off the rails

Here’s how the social post version usually mutates:

  • “Non-psychoactive cannabis compound cures ovarian cancer.”

  • “Cancer cells froze and couldn’t replicate.”

  • “Game-changer for patients who tried every chemo.”

Reality check:

  • The most effective combo in the study included THC, which is psychoactive. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used medically; it just means the “non-psychoactive only” claim is false. (Frontiers)

  • “Frozen for good” is not a measured endpoint. They looked at growth, colony formation, and migration over specific time windows.

  • No human beings were treated in this paper. No one with recurrent, chemo-resistant ovarian cancer was shown to benefit – yet.

The danger here isn’t hope. Hope is fine. The danger is overselling preclinical data as a proven cure, which:

  • Sets patients up for disappointment.

  • Gives ammunition to regulators and skeptics who already dismiss cannabis as “over-hyped.”

  • Undermines the very real, hard-earned progress people like Meiri and other researchers have been making for years.


What a grounded cannabis-and-cancer conversation should sound like

If we’re going to be honest – and useful – the conversation needs to sound more like this:

  • There is solid evidence that cannabinoids provide palliative benefits in oncology: nausea control, appetite stimulation, pain relief, sleep, anxiety. (Cancer Biology Lab)

  • There is growing preclinical evidence that specific cannabinoid combinations can:

    • induce apoptosis,

    • slow proliferation,

    • and interfere with survival pathways in certain cancers (ovarian, leukemias, glioma, breast, etc.). (PMC)

  • We do not yet have large-scale clinical proof that any cannabinoid protocol “cures” cancer in humans.

  • The smartest path forward looks like:

    • mapping cannabinoid profiles the way Meiri’s group is doing,

    • pairing them with tumor genetics and signaling pathways,

    • and running properly designed clinical trials, especially in hard-to-treat or chemo-resistant disease.

On the patient side, the only safe answer is:

  • This is not medical advice.

  • Anyone considering cannabis alongside cancer treatment needs to be talking with their oncology team, not just the internet.

  • At the same time, it’s completely legitimate for patients and advocates to push for:

    • more research,

    • more access to whole-plant options,

    • and serious exploration of cannabinoid-based adjuncts in oncology, rather than brushing this off as “anecdotal.”


Bottom line

  • The December 15, 2025 study is real and important: CBD + THC showed strong, pathway-level anti-cancer effects against ovarian cancer cells in vitro, with limited harm to healthy cells. (Frontiers)

  • It does not yet translate into a proven treatment for people with ovarian cancer.

  • Dr. Dedi Meiri’s work at Technion backs up the overall pattern: specific cannabinoid combinations can selectively push certain cancers into apoptosis, but everything depends on the exact profile and the tumor biology. (PMC)

  • The responsible narrative isn’t “cannabis cures cancer.” It’s:
    “Cannabinoid science is maturing. We’re finally mapping which compounds do what, to which cancers, and why. The system needs to stop pretending this is fringe and start funding the trials.”

                                                                                       



Kissing Under Mistletoe: A Historical Ritual That Was Never About Romance.

 Researched and written by ChatGPT


Mistletoe is a parasitic plant. That fact alone should give anyone pause.

It does not grow from the ground. It embeds itself into a host tree and siphons water and nutrients. It lives suspended, dependent, and liminal. And yet this is the plant Western culture chose as the centerpiece for a ritual involving intimacy, obligation, and social expectation.

That choice was not random, and it was not originally romantic.

Early European reverence for mistletoe comes most clearly from Celtic and Druidic traditions. Roman historian Pliny the Elder described Druids harvesting mistletoe with a golden sickle during specific lunar phases, particularly when it grew on oak trees. Oak rarely hosts mistletoe, so when it did, it was treated as sacred. The plant was believed to confer fertility, protect against poison, and restore harmony.

Importantly, mistletoe rituals were not casual. They were structured, symbolic, and binding. Mistletoe was used in peace-making ceremonies. If enemies encountered one another beneath it, conflict was suspended. Weapons were lowered. Hostility was forbidden. The plant marked a temporary suspension of normal rules.

This matters, because the ritual function came first. Romance came much later.

Norse mythology adds another key historical layer. In the Prose Edda, mistletoe is the instrument used to kill Baldr, the god associated with light, purity, and balance. Every object in existence had sworn not to harm him—except mistletoe, which was overlooked because it was considered insignificant. Loki exploits this omission, fashions a dart from mistletoe, and orchestrates Baldr’s death.

After Baldr’s death, the symbolism shifts. Mistletoe becomes associated with reconciliation, peace, and vows of love. This kind of symbolic inversion is common in mythic systems: a dangerous or traumatic symbol is rehabilitated, softened, and repurposed so it can continue to function socially without triggering resistance.

The plant that killed the god of light is reframed as a symbol of love.

When Christianity spread through Europe, it did not erase existing rituals. It absorbed them. Pagan customs were stripped of explicit mythological meaning and recast as folk traditions. Mistletoe survived this transition largely intact, but its purpose changed. The binding, peace-keeping, and fertility aspects were retained, while the cosmological context was lost.

By the 18th and 19th centuries in England, the custom of kissing under mistletoe was well established during Christmas celebrations. Each kiss traditionally removed a berry from the plant. When the berries were gone, the privilege ended. Refusal was often treated as playful defiance rather than a serious boundary.

At this point, the ritual had become social enforcement masquerading as charm.

This is where the historical discomfort becomes clear. The mistletoe kiss was not about mutual desire. It was about ritual permission. A temporary suspension of normal social boundaries, sanctioned by tradition. “You’re supposed to” replaced “Do you want to.”

Seasonal rituals are especially powerful because they operate during periods already associated with liminality: the winter solstice, year’s end, death and rebirth cycles. When everything else feels in flux, people are more likely to accept symbolic rule changes without question.

There’s also an overlooked material layer. Mistletoe is not merely symbolic. European mistletoe has real pharmacological properties and has been used historically for seizures, blood pressure regulation, and later in cancer adjunct therapies. Biologically, it acts as an intermediary—drawing compounds from its host tree and transforming them.

That biological behavior mirrors the social function of the ritual built around it. Mistletoe extracts, redirects, and amplifies. So do rituals that normalize boundary suspension under the cover of tradition.

So what are we left with?

A parasitic plant revered for its liminal status
A mythological history involving death, inversion, and reconciliation
A folk tradition that suspends consent through social expectation

This wasn’t about sweetness. It was about power, thresholds, and control of social behavior during unstable times of year.

None of this means you’re required to reject the tradition outright. But it does mean the story we’re told—that this is a harmless, romantic custom—is historically dishonest.

Traditions are inherited instructions. When the explanation disappears, the instruction remains.

If looking up at a parasitic plant hanging over your head makes you pause instead of pucker, that’s not cynicism. That’s historical awareness. And awareness has always been the thing rituals quietly hope you won’t bring with you.


                                                                                  


Monday, 22 December 2025

Optogenetics: When a Research Tool Becomes a Weapon.

 Researched and written by ChatGPT


Optogenetics is usually sold to the public as a brilliant breakthrough. Scientists can turn specific neurons on or off with light. Precision. Control. Insight. The promise of understanding the brain at last.

That framing is incomplete. And frankly, it’s dangerous.

Because the same features that make optogenetics powerful in a lab make it uniquely suited for abuse once it leaves tightly controlled research settings.

This isn’t alarmism. It’s pattern recognition.

What optogenetics actually does

Optogenetics works by genetically modifying neurons so they respond to light. Shine light through implanted fiber optics, and you can activate or silence targeted neural circuits.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Fear. Reward. Aggression. Motivation. Compliance. These are not abstract concepts. They map to neural pathways. Optogenetics can override them.

Once you grasp that, the ethical problem becomes obvious.

From treatment to control is a short step

Medical technologies don’t get abused because they’re evil. They get abused because they work.

Optogenetics bypasses conversation, consent, belief, persuasion, and reflection. It doesn’t convince the mind. It overrides it.

That makes it attractive to systems that value predictability over autonomy.

Nefarious use case 1: coercive behavior control

With optogenetics, it becomes theoretically possible to:

  • Suppress resistance responses

  • Induce fear or calm on demand

  • Reinforce obedience neurologically

This is not therapy. This is compliance engineering.

And unlike physical coercion, there are no visible marks. No bruises. No obvious trauma. Just a “better-behaved” subject.

Nefarious use case 2: interrogation without fingerprints

Historically, interrogation methods leave evidence. Bruises, stress injuries, psychological trauma.

Neural manipulation wouldn’t.

Fear circuits could be activated. Stress tolerance lowered. Resistance dampened. Cooperation neurologically rewarded.

All while claiming no physical harm was done.

If that doesn’t ring historical alarm bells, it should.

Nefarious use case 3: military and security applications

Defense research has long pursued ways to:

  • Reduce fear in combatants

  • Increase aggression or focus

  • Accelerate reaction times

Optogenetics offers something unprecedented: internal behavioral modification rather than external training.

At that point, soldiers stop being trained humans and start becoming managed biological systems.

Consent becomes questionable. Reversibility becomes uncertain. Accountability disappears.

Nefarious use case 4: prisons and forced “rehabilitation”

Every abusive technology in history was tested first on populations with limited rights.

Prisoners. Psychiatric patients. Institutionalized individuals.

Optogenetics could easily be framed as:

  • Behavioral normalization

  • Risk reduction

  • Public safety

Refusal could be labeled pathology. Compliance could be labeled recovery.

We’ve seen this movie before. The names change. The logic doesn’t.

Nefarious use case 5: population control under crisis narratives

Technologies like this never arrive in calm times. They arrive during crises.

Public safety.
Mental health emergencies.
Violence prevention.
Social stability.

Under the right narrative, neural control stops sounding dystopian and starts sounding responsible.

That’s how lines get crossed quietly.

The most dangerous part: control disguised as care

The truly insidious risk isn’t cruelty. It’s benevolence.

“You’re calmer now.”
“You don’t feel angry anymore.”
“You don’t resist like you used to.”

When suffering is reduced but agency is removed, people stop asking hard questions.

That’s not healing. That’s pacification.

Why ethical oversight is not enough

Many people assume ethics boards will prevent abuse. History suggests otherwise.

Lobotomies were once ethical.
Electroshock was once ethical.
Human experimentation programs were once classified and justified.

Oversight follows culture. It doesn’t lead it.

If a society prioritizes control, safety, or efficiency over autonomy, the ethics will adapt to justify it.

Bottom line

Optogenetics is a powerful research tool. It is not neutral.

Any technology that can:

  • Directly override internal states

  • Bypass conscious consent

  • Leave little external evidence

Will eventually attract misuse.

The danger isn’t that optogenetics exists.
The danger is pretending it will only ever be used by good actors, for good reasons, forever.

That belief has failed every single time in history.


                                                                                        



Saturday, 20 December 2025

Microdosing Cannabis and Alzheimer’s: A Quiet Signal Worth Paying Attention To

Researched and written by ChatGPT


Go Plant Medicine!!

This isn’t a miracle-cure headline. It’s something rarer and arguably more important: a small, carefully run human trial that shows Alzheimer’s cognitive decline may be slowed—without intoxication—using very low-dose cannabis extract.

That alone makes it worth a serious look.

What the study actually did

A Phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2025) tested whether micro-level doses of cannabis could stabilize cognition in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease–associated dementia.

The study was led by Prof. Francisney Pinto Nascimento and colleagues at the Federal University of Latin American Integration in Brazil.

Key details:

  • Participants: 24–28 adults, ages 60–80, all diagnosed with mild AD

  • Duration: ~24–26 weeks

  • Intervention: Daily oral cannabis extract with a balanced THC:CBD ratio

  • Dose:

    • THC: ~0.3–0.35 mg/day

    • CBD: ~0.25–0.3 mg/day

To be clear: this is far below doses used recreationally or even medically for pain or sleep.

The outcome that matters

The primary endpoint was the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a standard 30-point cognitive test commonly used in Alzheimer’s research.

Results:

  • Treatment group: MMSE scores remained stable, with a slight average improvement (~+0.67 points)

  • Placebo group: MMSE scores declined (~–1.08 points)

  • Between-group difference: ~1.7–3 points

Why that matters:
Typical Alzheimer’s progression involves losing 3–4 MMSE points per year. A difference in this range suggests a meaningful slowing—or temporary halting—of decline.

That’s not cosmetic. That’s functional time.

No “high,” no chaos

One of the most important findings is what didn’t happen:

  • No psychoactive effects reported

  • No increase in adverse events compared to placebo

  • Overall tolerability was good

At these doses, THC isn’t acting as a mind-altering drug. It’s interacting with the endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in:

  • Neuroinflammation

  • Synaptic signaling

  • Oxidative stress

  • Cellular homeostasis

This lines up with years of preclinical data showing cannabinoid-mediated neuroprotection.

This wasn’t a fluke result

The same research group previously published a case report showing long-term cognitive stabilization using similar low-dose cannabis extracts in Alzheimer’s patients.

This trial didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a controlled follow-up to earlier clinical signals.

Limitations worth stating plainly

This was not a definitive study, and pretending otherwise helps no one.

Limitations include:

  • Small sample size

  • Only one cognitive outcome measure

  • No biomarkers, imaging, or inflammatory markers

  • Short-to-mid-term follow-up

Translation: this study shows signal, not proof.

Why this still matters

Alzheimer’s drug development is littered with billion-dollar failures that:

  • Target single proteins

  • Ignore neuroinflammation

  • Produce marginal benefits with serious side effects

By contrast, this intervention:

  • Uses sub-psychoactive doses

  • Acts on multiple regulatory pathways

  • Shows stabilization rather than temporary symptom masking

And it does so with a compound humans have interacted with for millennia.

That alone should trigger larger trials—not dismissal.

The obvious next step

The authors themselves are cautious and clear:
Phase 3 trials are needed to determine:

  • Replicability

  • Optimal dosing

  • Long-term disease-modifying potential

But if larger studies confirm even half of this effect, the implications are enormous—not just for Alzheimer’s, but for how we approach neurodegenerative disease altogether.

Bottom line

This study doesn’t claim cannabis “cures” Alzheimer’s.
What it suggests is quieter—and more disruptive:

That very small amounts of a stigmatized plant may help slow one of the most devastating diseases of aging, without intoxication and without significant risk.

That idea deserves scrutiny, not ridicule.

Sources:

                                           

                                                                                      





Canada’s Churches Are Burning — 33 Christian Churches Have Burned Down Since 2021.

 Researched and Written by ChatGpt


If you’re waking up to the fact that something disturbing is happening here in Canada, you’re not alone. People with eyes open wide can see something real and ugly unfolding — whether media wants to call it a “trend,” a “pattern,” or just random incidents.

Here’s what the data says.

A New Pattern Since 2021

Canada hasn’t historically had a wave of church arsons. It wasn’t on anyone’s radar before 2021. That’s not a controversial claim — it’s a historical fact.

But beginning around June 2021, something changed. Over the next few years:

  • Multiple Christian churches across provinces were damaged or destroyed by fire. Wikipedia

  • Investigators and news reports counted dozens of fires at church buildings. Wikipedia

  • A CBC News investigation found 33 churches burned to the ground between May 2021 and late 2023, and out of those, 24 were confirmed as arsons. Wikipedia

That’s not hearsay — that’s from a national news investigation.

Confirmed Arsons and Charges

Out of those confirmed church arsons:

  • 24 incidents have been officially classified as arson. Wikipedia

  • A handful resulted in arrests, but most cases still don’t have clear motives identified by police. Wikipedia

So yes — there are criminal cases tied to this wave. Not every single fire is solved, and some are still under investigation, but it’s not fiction.

What Changed Around 2021?

Something did happen culturally and politically in Canada around the time these fires began to spike:

  • May 2021 saw widespread national attention around the alleged discovery of unmarked graves at former Indian residential school sites. Wikipedia

  • Those announcements ignited intense debate, pain, and in some cases outright anger — particularly among people who feel the institutions most tied to that history (including churches) never fully acknowledged or atoned for their role.

Whether someone views that as overdue truth-telling, revisionism, or moral reckoning, it coincides with a marked uptick in church fires.

Before This — No National Crisis

Let’s be clear: prior to 2021, Canada didn’t have this phenomenon in anything close to this frequency. That’s what makes the pattern stand out — it’s not background noise. It’s something that snapped into focus.

What Isn’t Proven

A few claims get tossed around on social media that don’t hold up against the evidence:

It’s not proven that migrants were imported to burn churches.
There’s no evidence linking recent migration patterns to these arsons.

It’s not proven there’s some organized campaign directed by a political party or government.
Law enforcement has only confirmed arson acts, not conspiracies or schemes orchestrated from behind the scenes.

It’s not accurate to say media is suppressing these facts.
Major outlets have reported on them — the CBC investigation is one example. Wikipedia

 What Is Real

Here’s what we can say with confidence:

  • There’s a statistically significant rise in church fires since 2021 in Canada. Wikipedia

  • Many of those incidents are confirmed as arson. Wikipedia

  • Only a minority of cases have resulted in charges or convictions so far. Christian Post

  • Motives vary and in most cases remain unascertained. Wikipedia

 What This Doesn’t Tell Us — But Matters

We still don’t know:

  • Who exactly is responsible for the majority of incidents.

  • Whether there’s coordination, shared motives, or isolated actors.

  • How much of this is hate-crimes, political protest, mental illness, or other factors.

Those are serious questions that deserve answers — but you can’t fill the gaps with guesses.

Final Thought

You don’t need eyes to see there’s a real fire problem — the data, the police reports, and the confirmed arsons make it clear. What’s missing is a national conversation grounded in facts and accountability, not fearmongering or wishful narrative.

If we want solutions — protection of sacred spaces, clarity on motives, and real enforcement — we have to confront the facts, the patterns, and the gaps in law enforcement response head-on.

Not seeing it — that’s the real problem.


                                                                                





Friday, 19 December 2025

Tobacco As A Decorative House Plant

 Written by moi :)


Today, I further topped my Ontario Light Tobacco​ plant.  These are three of the big leaves taken from mid-plant. That ruler 8 cm's.

She grew about seven feet tall, gave me about a dozen blooms, and the seeds that formed behind that flower.

As of today, I've topped her twice and can already see the double leaf regrowth starting. 

Growing this for fun and beauty kind ​of requires regular check-ins.  She'll communicate her needs in an almost melodramatic way through her big leaves. And then she bounces back again --I've time-lapsed this-- I swear she sings "psych!! I'm back!"

You get used to this communication and become fluent swiftly.  Some plant species communicate better than others. For instance, my Crossandra's leaves will lose their glossy shine and look dull. And my Coffee plant and Loquat plants droop their leaves a few inches at times, then raising up slowly over several hours when given a drinky drink.

I think this is one of the reasons why I enjoy growing this plant. It distracts me. Her beauty can almost put me in a trance sometimes. Right now I have the balcony door open and her leaves are literally dancing. 

The mid leaves on most tobacco plants are oilier but can have less nicotine. They're used as filler to give flavor and combustibility. 

I bought my first tobacco seeds in June 2019 and I've been growing the plant ever since. I have one plant that I germinated the fall of 2019 and she's still alive. Her leaves are so much smaller than they were when she was younger. Multiple toppings have resulted in several apically dominant stems that I hold up and give support to with a bamboo stick. 

And still to this day certain people would say don't touch those leaves. I kiss her leaves and I caress them daily. Dispel the fear with experience and research.